How not to give business to the business of cyber crime

It is a fact that cybercrime has been increasing for years across the world. This is primarily due to two reasons (1) Governments themselves engage in such activity or sponsor hackers in their nefarious business (2) Cybercrime has become profitable especially with the increasing use of crypto currencies such as Bitcoins, Tor or Monero.

It is today a well-known fact that hackers from North Korea and Russia act aggressively and with near impunity due to the tacit support of their respective governments.

In the report, James Lewis (Vice President, CSIS) states that Russia is considered the leading nation in cybercrime due to its hackers’ skills and a seemingly incompetent law enforcement system. This is followed by North Korea, which thrives targeting digital currencies. These two countries, in conjunction with Iran, are considered responsible for most attacks on financial institutions. China, interestingly, focuses on espionage. (Have you read our blog post on ‘espionage’?)

Such state-sponsored activities could trigger armed conflicts between countries. Even if it doesn’t get that far, the economic damage caused by cybercrime is immense. The cost of impact of this issue worldwide, in 2017, is estimated to be a whopping $600 billion. Well, if that is worrisome for companies, what must also be is that theft of intellectual property and business-critical information accounts for about a quarter of the damage.

$155 billion increase in global damage

McAfee expert, Steve Grobman states that cybercrime has become more efficient and profitable than ever before. This is reflected a previous study from 2014, in which the global damage had been estimated at $ 445 billion. The study focused on the theft of classified business data, online fraud and financial crime, insurance costs and potential damage to a company’s reputation.

Interestingly, the White House also stated last week that cybercrime in the US in 2016 caused $57-109 billion in damage.

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